Shuttle-adjusting mechanism for weft-changing looms.



0. e. LAVIGNE. SHUTTLE ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR WEFT CHANGING LOOMS.

APPLICATION I'ILED MAB. 1, 1906. RENEWED JULY 10, 1913. 1

1,105,146. Patented July 28. 1914,

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UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLIE Gr. LAVIGNE, 0F BRUNSWICK, MAINE, ASSIGNOR, BY-DIRECT AND MESNE. ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE STAFFORD COMPANY, OF READVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SHUTTLE-ADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR WEFT-CHANGING LOOMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jul 28, 1914.

Application filed March 1, 1906, Serial No. 303,579. Renewed July 10, 1913. Serial No. 778,417.

shuttle is thrown out of action and afresh shuttle automatically brought into action when the filling breaks or becomes exhausted, or thecbobbin is automatically expelled from the shuttle'and a new bobbin is introduced. V

In this class of looms it is quite important for. the successful working of the weft changing mechanism that the shuttle should be accurately located inits box when the weft changing mechanism operates. When the bobbin is changed as in bobbin-changing looms it is important to have the shuttle accurately located inorder that the fresh bobbin as it descends into the shuttle may properly enter and become locked, since there is little latitude for variation of position longitudinally of the shuttle. In shuttle changing looms it is important that the fresh shuttlev should occupy the proper position within the shuttle-box after having been inserted into the latter. In some shuttlechanging looms the front of the shuttle box is made intermittingly removable and the new shuttle is introduced into the box from the magazine passing laterally into the box, the front automatically closing after the shuttle is in the box. It is necessary to locate the fresh shuttle so that as it enters the shuttle box its outer end will clear the picker with sufficient margin, so that there will be no chance of the end striking the picker for if this happens the shuttle will be thrown out of line and the mechanism will fail to work. The jar of the 100m is liable to slide the shuttle somewhat forward and away from the picker and thus it happens that when the loom starts up the picker has to travel some distance before striking against the end of the shuttle, the force of the blow is decreased and the shuttle is not thrown across the loom with full force.

It thus may not reach the picker 1 on the other end of the lay in which case the shuttle is liable to lodge in the shed of the warp and stop the loom. In order to prevent this difficulty or to partially overcome it, it has been customary to put an additional force onto the picker. over and above What would be normally necessary in order to insure a heavy enough blow on the new shuttle when it comes in to set it properly in motion, allowing for/the lost motion in the first blow. Thus an extra amount of power is required to run the looms at all times and even then the difliculty has not been overcome but is a common sourceof trouble. I

overcome these difliculties in both classes of looms by providing means for longitudinally adjusting the position of the shuttle in its box at the time the weft changing operation takes place. 1

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated my invention as applied to a loom in which weft-replenishment is, automatically effected by a change of shuttles,showing only those parts of the loom necessary to clearly understand the operation of my mechanism.

In the drawing :-Figure 1 is a side elevat-ion of the shuttle in its box in position after it has been adjusted and pressed back against the picker, Fig. 2 is aplan View of the box and adjacent parts and Fig. 3 is a section on w m of Fig. 2 showing also the magazine shaft, cam, &c., on the lower part of the loom.

A represents the shuttle, B the picker, G the race plate,Dthe binder andd the mouthpiece, these being well known parts of any loom} The shuttle changing mechanism is partially shown, L being the'movable front board, Z the arms to which it is attached, Zthe shaft on which the arms are secured Z the hangers to which shaft Z is journaled and a the change-shaft, oftentermed magazine shaft by which the shuttle changing mechanism is operated and which i A has an intermittent motion, coming into operation when the filling is exhausted and the shuttles are ready to be changed. The change-shaft or magazine-shaft may be provided with actuating connections as in U. S. Letters Patent to S. S. Jackson, No. 9%,722, granted January t, 1910. The location of the said shaft and the means for operating the" same form no part of the invention, however, and may be varied in practice.

According to my invention I provide a movable member to impinge on some portion of the shuttle and to push it back into contact with or adjacent to the picker assuming that it is forward of its normal position as it will be when first put in. As here shown, I provide a pivoted arm 0 secured to the end of a shaft f and adapted to swing down in front of the shuttle with the rotation of the shaft and to impinge on the inner end of the shuttle, pushing it into its proper place in the box, which will be in this case back against the picker. The arm 6 is provided with a leather or other suitable contact face 6 and it is so located and is of sufficient length so that it will always catch the end of the shuttle if. the same is within a reasonable distance of its normal position. The shaft f to which the arm 6 is attached is journaled above the shuttle box in suitable bearings. As here shown, it is journaled in boxes f and f one on each end of a fixed arm f which is secured to the outer end of the same hanger Z to which the movable box front is pivoted. The arm f extends inward at right angles to the box over the binder. The arm 6 is held normallyout of the path of the shuttle as shown in Fig. 1 by dotted lines and for this purpose I use a spiral spring j on the shaft f in conjunction with an adjustable stop 11 which impinges on the horizontal portion of the arm f Intermittently operating means are pro vided to rotate the shaft 7 to bring the arm against the end of theshuttle. I here show a pulley g on the shaft f with a strap 71 passing around it, the lower end of the strap being secured to a lever which is acted on by a cam m on the change or maga- Zine shaft a. The lever 73 is pivoted to the frame of the loom at 70 and it has a surface Z against which the cam on first strikes with a shoulder 2 from which the cam slides to suddenly release the lever and allow it to rise. The form of the cam and lever may be greatly varied but they are such as to give to the strap a quick downward pull releasing it immediately so that the arm may return at once to its normal position after pushing back the shuttle. The cam is so placed on the shaft that the lever will be acted on immediately after the new shuttle has been projected into its box.

It will be seen that with this adjusting means the shuttle is adjusted into its proper position in the box so that at the first blow of the picker it gets the proper velocity to send it across the lay and the force on the picker stick may thus be cut down to the normal amount and all danger of stopping the loom from the shuttle being out of position is avoided. I

In weft changing looms in which the bobbin is changed the shuttle would be adjusted in the same manner as in the shuttle changing looms. The operation, however, of the adjusting mechanism when applied to such a loom would be timed to adjust the shuttle before the transfer of the full fillingcarrier from the magazine to the shuttle.

The adjusting arm instead of acting against the end of the shuttle may be made to impinge on some other portion of the shuttle.

I claim 1. In a weftreplenishing loom, in combination, a shuttle-box, a shuttle-positioner, a change-shaft, and means through which the said change-shaft operates the said shuttle-positioner to properly locate the shuttle in the shuttle-box.

2. In a weft-replenishing loom, in combination, a shuttle-box, a rocker having a shuttle-positioning arm, a change-shaft, and means through which the said change-shaft .operates the said rocker and its arm to properly position the shuttle in the shuttlebox.

'3. In a weft-replenishing loom, in combination, a shuttle-box, a rocker, a shuttlepositioning arm carried by the said rocker, a spring in connection with the said rocker and arm operating to keep'said arm normally retracted from the pat-h of the shuttle in entering and leaving the shuttle-box, a

change-shaft and actuating means for the said rocker and arm operatively connected with the said change-shaft whereby the arm is moved into the said path and made to move the shuttle, if misplaced, into the desired position in the shuttle-box.

4. In a weft changing loom, the combi nation with the shuttle box of a shaft journaled above the shuttle, an arm on said shaft adapted to be rotated against the shut tle but normally out of the path of the shuttle, a pulley on said shaft and a strap on said pulley, means for intermittently exerting a pull on said strap, a spring for returning said shaft to and a stop for retaining it in its normal position.

5. In a weft changing loom the combination with the shuttle box of a shaft journaled adjacent to and above the shuttle, an arm on said shaft adapted to be rotated against the shuttle, a pulley on said shaft and a strap on said pulley, a lever to which sa1d strap is secured, a cam for actuating said lever and an intermittently operating shaft to which said cam is secured.

6. In a weft changing loom, the combination of a hanger extending at right angles to the shuttle box, a fixed arm secured to said hanger and extending at right angles to the shuttle box and above the same, a bearing on each end of said arm, a shaft journaled in said bearings, a movable arm on the shaft over the end of the. shuttle adapted to rotate against the shuttle and normally out of the path of the shuttle, a spring and stop for returning the shaft and retaining it in its normal position, a pulley and strap on the rear end of said shaft, a cam on the change or other intermittently rotated shaft and a lever to Which said strap is secured operated by said cam.

7. In a loom, in combination, a lay and its shuttle-box, a rockshaft mounted on said lay carrying a shuttle-positioning arm which swings in a vertical plane, a rotating cam, and means through which said cam actuates said rockshaft and arm to position a shuttle in said shuttle-box.

8. In a loom, a shuttle-positioning device, located on the lay at one end thereof,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing-the at the inner end of a shuttle-box, and comprising an arm having a swlvel or pivoted movement in a vertical plane, and means for moving said arm to engage the inner end of CHARLIE G. LAVIGNE.

Witnesses:

F. C. WEBB, l EDWARD W. WHEELER.

Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, D. G." 

